BILLY'S AMBITION 155 



was to make heaps of friends — men friends — then 

 marry the man of her heart ; and that her boy 

 should grow into a M.F.H. — a consummation which 

 all who knew her saw no reason for not being 

 realised. 



*^ Now, Mistress," said both the young people ; 

 but Joanna adhered to her already pronounced 

 declaration that " wild horses wouldn't drag from 

 her what was her ambition, or whether it had been 

 attained." 



As we turned hounds over to Tom and the boy, 

 I asked my super whipper-in, ^' If, preparatory to 

 the ride in the Grand National which he coveted, 

 he would ride old * Royal ' in the * point to point,' " 

 adding, '^and if 3^ou win, you may ride him in the 

 ^ open hunt ' 'chase the following week." His look 

 of gratitude, and the vigour with which he sucked 

 his pipe, were answer enough without words spoken. 



'Twas well that the remaining hunting days could 

 be numbered by units, for two of my horses were 

 straightway taken possession of by my self-appointed 

 trainer, and with some occult design, a third, the 

 *^ Pearl," was appropriated by old Batters, from whom 

 nothing more could be extracted than that he was 

 going to '^ wund her up ti opera pitch." This was 

 a favourite expression of his. "I have an opera 

 gawin' on in here," he had once mysteriously said, 

 unlocking the door of a shed in the back-yard used 

 as a sick-box, and disclosing the resigned face of old 

 '' Safety," trussed up with a twitch and a tight-bearing 

 rein, her fore-legs immersed in a tub of cold water. 



So I had to submit, and had only the old lady and 

 the " Omega " mare for the closing days. 



